These Are the Cars That Defied Your Expectations

Photo: Toyota

“Ever since I was a young lad, I wanted a Toyota Tacoma. I grew up in the 90s riding around in beat up Fords and Chevy’s, never really seeing one in person, because there were no Toyota dealers within an hour’s drive. But in magazines, on TV, and on video games, it was the king. I loved how they looked, and I heard tales of their indestructibility. Sounds crazy, but to me it was like some kind of exotic. I knew someday I had to have one. Time passed and I became a Jeep guy, but then in adulthood, I finally became well-off enough to explore buying a new tacoma. I still to that day had never ridden in one, so the excitement was intense as I climbed up inside that burnt-orange TRD Pro.

“What came next? Not instant disappointment, but a slow burning realization over the course of a 20 minute test drive. Without making this too long, I realized that not only did I not love it, driving it actually got on my nerves. The seating position, the flinty ride, the tinny sounding doors, the weird throttle mapping, the absolutely SLUGGISH transmission, and squishy brakes all came together and I came back just feeling so let down. I had gotten too used to the way a Ram pickup felt, and I think I blame my expectations more than anything Toyota did wrong.

“It just wasn’t for me, and I was in shock about that.”

Is this an instance of “never meet your heroes?” It sounds like it could be.

Suggested by: caddywompis